The Odd Journey With My Nakama?
by Sawakaze-Steph16
Summary: Then again, who is she to be calling her Nakama odd, sure her main rival cosplays while battling,and her traveling companions consist of dangerously genre savvy snarkers, tsunderes and hyper teen geniuses, plus they're all keeping secrets from each other
1. She's not a complete noob

**A/N Oh no! I've done something no author should do, and in my first fanfiction too..I PUT A SELF INSERT! Now while on this topic, I don't have the same personality as her, (I'd never yell in public, or at anyone for that matter) Forgive me if you hate the protaganist, I'll try to do her some justice and prevent her from becoming a mary sue. I am focusing more on the other major characters that will appear in the story, each with their own wacky personality. Oh and yes I may purposely add in tropes just to better my understanding of them, unfortunately, the trope may not play out so well. Please review and critique, I would like to improve on my writing and feed back would be well appreciated. Now for the disclaimer**

**Ives: Sawakaze-Steph16 does not own Pokemon in any way, even if she did, she'd probably ruin it forever XD**

**Stephi: Hmph, I could do a way better disclaimer than that!**

**Ives: No time! I must go cosplay!  
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><p>A girl of rather small physique ran across the bustling city of Jubilife. Her name? Stephi, an odd name of all sorts, a 14 year old that was 3 months into her solo pokemon journey. Her ever so optimistic Buneary was bouncing at her side. Stephi wore a determined look on her face, a rather rare look that would only sprout when she saw <strong>HIM.<strong> He was the reason why she running, she had just caught a glimpse of his blue hair. A few more steps and she'd be right behind him. This time for sure, she would beat him. _You're going down this time you cosplaying, marty-stu (in her opinion), jerk!_

"Ives! I want a battle now!" She yelled out. Bystanders' heads were turning around to look at the commotion. Stephi realized her sudden outburst and began to blush in embarrassment. Ives turned his head to face Stephi, his eyes looking droopy and tired. He clearly did not look interested in the matter at hand at the moment.

"How about no?" he bluntly replied.

_ He's mocking me!_ She seethed in anger that she only felt around him, her lifetime rival that bested her at everything, whether it came to video games, grades, social status and many other things. The two grew up together in Twinleaf Town, they never bothered trying to be friendly with each other and any attempts failed. Stephi was scared to have a friendship with Ives since she assumed he had trouble emotionally connecting with someone. Stephi was also conflicted with deep feelings of jealously with all the accomplishments that he had. Everyone in town loved him, and always compared how inferior she was to him.

_Heh, this time, I will surpass you, I'll become the most accomplished trainer of Sinnoh, then they'll notice my potential._

Ives voice interrupted her thoughts, "You didn't put up much of a fight back in Sandgem, and Rowan must have been disappointed" _3 months have passed since then, perhaps she.._ Continuing on with his previous thoughts "I have two badges, just won a badge at Eterna a few days ago"

Stephi had a look of disbelief on her face, not willing to accept that fact that Ives was not only 1 but **2** steps ahead of her!

Ives noticed the distressed look and proceeded to ask her "What have you accomplished in the past 3 months since starting our journey?"

Stephi died inside a little bit, she lost a pokemon contest, lost to Roark twice and blew off all her money with her spending impulse. She was literally living on the petty allowances from the youngster trainer battles. In addition, she stayed in Jubilife's Pokémon Centre most of the time, not wanting to be any more exposed to the cold than she had to. It was her fault for starting a Pokemon journey in the winter though. A dark aura spread over Stephi as she willowed in self-pity. Ives sweat dropped.

"Your silence tells me that you haven't done much…" Ives concluded. "Either way I cannot battle you, my next cosplaying costume isn't done yet. Oh I need to dye my hair too, guess I'm taking a breaks from battles now" Ives trailed off.

Stephi bitterly remembered their first battle in Sandgem Town, before they could begin though, he insisted on cosplaying. To her surprise, he chose to cosplay L, though she wouldn't admit to him anytime soon, he made a pretty good L. She was then reminded of her humiliating loss to him subsequently. Just then, Stephi finally understood Ives' previous statement.

"No way...you're refusing to battle me and other trainers…JUST SO YOU CAN MAKE A STUPID COSPLAY COSTUME? YOU"RE A BIGGER OTAKU THAN ME! HAS IT EVER OCCURRED TO YOU TO JUST GO OUT AND BUY COSTUMES?" Stephi was enraged, how could this strange boy that obviously has not set his priorities straight be her rival?

Stephi was ready to deliver a huge lecture before she saw the death glare that Ives threw her. She slowly backed away from him, Buneary following suit.

He kept his head down, hiding his eyes behind his blue bangs. "You idiot.." he muttered in a slow but hateful tone. He looked up to her with a calm composition. Stephi grew confused _Um, is he bipolar or something?_

"Only real cosplayers make their own costumes! From scratch nonetheless" he crossed his arms.

"You don't need to cosplay to battle me" Stephi quickly retorted.

"It's an OCD thing for me" Ives sheepishly admitted, sweat dropping with a nervous smile on his face. Another thing Stephi wouldn't admit to him. She treasured those small moments when he smiled, which was probably the only time she ever actually liked the guy.

"Wear your L costume again!" Stephi exclaimed, hoping he would do so.

"It has to be a different costume every time! I'm creating a reputation here!" A vein appeared on Ives' head. He focused his attention on Stephi once more, "There's no point in battling me, you haven't won a single badge! You are far too incompetent to battle with the likes of me" With that he brushed her aside and began a brisk walk to the PokeMart. Stephi stared after him with a blank look on her face. Buneary looked up to her in understanding.

'Bun' Stephi smiled down at Buneary and bent down to pet her fur affectionately.

"All the motivation I had earlier is gone, I wish I never bothered talking to him in the first place" she ranted on to Buneary. She knew though, that even if she hadn't talked to him today, she still would have no motivation to continue on her journey. _My loss to Ives at the beginning, that took away all my confidence_


	2. The men in tacky suits

On the other side of town, a new comer stepped in. He was currently communicating with someone on his poke gear. "Did you reach Sinnoh safely Darno?" a mysterious voice inquired.

"Yup, the boat ride from Johto to Sinnoh was a long one" Darno nodded. In the shadows, two men wearing green outfits and dark blue helmets were eavesdropping on the conversation.

"Did you hear that? That kid's from Johto!" One man whispered to the other.

"Yeah, that means he has rare Pokemon, let's go steal them…" the other planned. They stepped out, which did not go unnoticed by Darno.

"You two look awfully suspicious with those tacky uniforms that you're wearing" Darno greeted them in his own way. "Ah, maybe you're a subgroup of Team Rocket?"

"Psh, Team Rocket can't compare to the Rare Ones" One man snorted

"If you're done with your pointless commentary on our appearance, we challenge you to battle, we win and we take your pokemon!" The second man laid out, his black hair blowing in the breeze.

"Well then, I think we all know who's the more intelligent one in this duo" Darno muttered out while pulling out a pokeball from his pocket. _I'm kinda surprised they didn't bother to do a sneak attack on me; I was clearly distracted at that time. Oh well, looks like Ivysaur's going to get some more experience_

Stephi had heard an argument around the corner and decided to check it out; as she turned she spotted the current situation._ Those two guys in the tacky green suits are ganging up on that other guy! I should help him, winning a battle is just what I need to motivate myself!_ Buneary looked up to Stephi with a confused look on her face, possibly doubting whatever she was going to do next. "Buneary, let's go!" Stephi told her, and ran over to Darno's side.

Darno faced her and gave her a questioning look, Stephi froze at this notion. _Oh how could I forget the possibility of getting him rejecting my help! I'll just have to force myself on him to help_ Stephi's paranoia began to grow. In a nervous loud voice she bgean "Two verses one isn't fair, so I will battle with you" she hoped this was a good enough excuse to aid him.

"Oh don't worry about that, I can just use two pokemon like in double battles" he casually explained. "I'm in no real danger" he added with a knowing yet idiotic smile on his face.

_He saw right through me!_ Stephi's mouth gaped in shock; she still wished to help though.

"How dare you downplay us?" The two men shouted collectively

"I'm still helping!" Stephi stubbornly decided, her face was heating up, she despised looking desperate in front of others. Darno noted her determination; it was the kind that inexperienced trainers usually held.

"Whatever floats your boat, these guys are harmless anyway, now you seem to be a rookie so I'll do most of the work here" Stephi nodded at his instructions, this guy seemed like an expert. Unbeknownst to her, he was quite annoyed as well, judging by his tone.

"Come on out Ivysaur!" Darno threw his pokeball and then turned to Stephi. "Quick send out a pokemon"

"Right, first of all, Buneary return" Stephi took out her pokeball, Buneary had a dejected look on her face before being enclosed in a red light.

_That Buneary is very attached to her trainer; I hope she pays lots of attention to it_. Darno observed Buneary's actions

"Go Spoink!" Stephi called out. Spoink was her family's pokepet for the past year, she decided on bringing him along for the journey. The two men called out Golbat and Raticate.

"Golbat use wing attack!"

"Raticate! Hyper fang!"

"Dodge the wing attack and use vine whip Ivysaur!" Ivysaur did as was told and successfully landed an attack on Golbat. Spoink wasn't so lucky however; hyper fang hit the pokemon and left a large bruise on it.

"Spoink!" Stephi yelled out in worry for his well being. _What a fast Raticate…_

"If you really want to help, call out attacks please! And fast!" Darno instructed. "Just follow my lead, Ivysaur use razor leaf!"

_Ah, I think he wants me to combine his attacks with his_ Stephi smiled at the brilliance of this idea, not to mention she had seen many times in anime.

"Spoink, use psychic to power up that razor leaf!" Spoink did do and the attack hit Golbat, which fainted.

_That wasn't exactly what I had in mind, we got lucky with that attack, what does she think this is, an anime?_ Darno focused his attention once more on the battle

"Raticate use quick attack!"

"Ivysaur dodge!" Darno called out. Spoink as a result, got hit again. Spoink had dangerously low HP. Stephi could imagine the video game music playing in Pokemon Black and White.

"Start telling your Pokemon to dodge" Darno politely advised.

_I'm doing my best here mister_ Stephi was getting slightly put off with his advice. To her he seemed snobby and she disliked being called out on mistakes.

"I'll finish the battle now if you don't mind, Ivysaur use leafstorm and then headbutt!" Raticate was trapped in a vortex of leaves, when the leaves cleared out Ivysaur finished its opponent with a headbutt. The two men returned their pokemon and retreated. "See, I was never in danger in the first place!' Darno said in triumph

Stephi's previous annoyance faded and she simply stared back at him in amazement.

"Hey, do you know where I could find a map of Sinnoh?" Darno inquired breaking the silence.

"Oh? You're not from Sinnoh?" Gears in Stephi's head were churning.

"On the contrary, I'm from Johto" Darno replied

"Ah, my brother went there last year…." Stephi trailed off. She was forming a plan in her head. _Excellent_ she thought with a somewhat evil voice in her opinion that she could never pull off in real life. Darno raised an eyebrow at her sudden change in behavior while petting Ivysaur.


	3. It's a Deal!

**A/N: Hozah! Third Chapter is here! My story got 17 hits! I'm so excited! Hehe, anyways, here is an attempt to flesh out Darno and Stephi more, a short chapter but I am busy with school work. My school is a self directed one none the less. Not much action in this chapter, but a new plot will be introduced in the next one. I don't want to pester you but I would like reviews with constructive criticism. I'm not really sure what my current writing strengths and weaknesses are. **

**Disclaimer**

**Darno: Sawakaze-Steph16 does not own Pokemon or any other references made to other franchises, websites etc She does however, own all the original characters in this story**

**Stephi: Huh? Wait I wanted to do the disclaimer!**

**Darno: Enjoy**

**Stephi: Oh come on first Ives now you? I am the main character aren't I?**

**Darno: Maybe..**

Stephi was smirking internally; she had no idea that her smirk was clearly visible on her face as well. Her plan was brilliant. She could be his tour guide throughout Sinnoh. Then they would get to travel together! She was sure that if someone as experienced as him was travelling with her she would be more motivated to complete her goals. She always did feel more confident when a friend was by her side.

"Quit smirking, whatever your devious plan is spit it out!" Darno spoke out.

"OMO! Are you an esper?" Stephi blurted out in shock. After realizing what she had just admitted, she clamped her hand on her mouth, her eyes wide.

"An esper? No no I just happen to be very genre savvy, you see there's this site called TV Tropes and..." Darno trailed off; reminiscing the many hours he spent on the site and the amount of tabs he had open.

"I love that site!" Stephi excitedly interrupted. Spoink nudged Stephi, as if he knew her plan and tried to get her back on topic. She ignored him and continued on, "Of course, there's no way you're more genre savvy than me, I live to be genre savvy!"

"Oh please, you assumed I was an esper, if anything you're just wrong genre savvy, actually, you might have shades of a cloud cuckoolander" Darno heaved a heavy sigh. Stephi stared back at him astounded by his internet knowledge; she took back her former statement as he clearly was the more genre savvy of the two.

"Mind telling me your scheme then, since you admitted it and all"

"Y-you're making me seem like a bad person, I didn't actually plan a scheme" Stephi crossed her arms; she sighed in defeat and began to explain. "Since you're not familiar with the Sinnoh Region, and I happen to be a Sinnoh native who knows her way around here...let's travel together!"

"I'm listening"

"Of course, if we accompany each other, we'd have to make a few pit stops, like gym battles and contests" Stephi looked down, not willing to see his reaction.

"So basically, you were attempting to trick me into travelling with you by acting as my tour guide?" he swiftly concluded.

Stephi's previous excitement was slipping away, this guy was too genre savvy for her own good.

_I've never gotten an offer to travel with anyone before_ he looked over at Stephi, analyzing her. _She doesn't look like she has any hidden evil motives or anything, but then again I would be judging a book from its cover.._

"Well, my goal isn't that urgent, in fact it'll take a while to complete" Darno started. Stephi looked up at him curiously. "I might regret this later, but I'll take you up on your offer, I'll travel with you" Darno mentally face palmed at his decision

"Alright!" Stephi cheered. Spoink danced around her. "Say how old are you?"

"14"

"Same here! You're a lot more mature than other boys your age! Now onwards to Orebourgh city!" Stephi started walking in a random direction.

_Of course I'm mature for my age, you have no idea how much people despise that about me_

"If I'm not mistaken, that's the way to Sandgem, I just came here from there" Darno corrected.

"I knew that" she muttered, now walking in the right direction…

The two men that had battled Darno and Stephi watched them from behind a building while analyzing the battle video they had taken of them.

"Yup these pokemon definitely deserve to be with the Rare Ones" the smarter of the men noted

"Yeah, plus that little girlie looks so familiar" the other man pointed out, the smarter one smacked him on the head.

"We're not focusing on looks here, let's just report these two trainers to the boss and hope our discovery is enough to not get punished for losing" the man continued, being sure to make note of Darno and Stephi's destination.

Meanwhile, Stephi and Darno decided to rest at the Pokemon Centre before setting off to Oreburgh. Stephi suddenly realized something.

"Oh how could I forget, what's your name?"

"I'm Darno" he answered.

"That's a peculiar name" she noted absentmindly.

"And no one uses the word peculiar anymore, let's see your name" he retorted.

"I'm Stephi" she answered in a rigid, annoyed tone.

"That's an even more peculiar name" Darno mocked in the same tone as Stephi.

Stephi would have continued the conversation if she could think of a witty comeback, besides she was bursting with happiness inside. She wouldn't feel so lonely anymore. _I wonder how long this travelling arrangement will last though.._ She pushed the negative thought out of her mind, today was a new day for her.

"Even though I'm in no hurry to complete my goal, I don't want you spending too much time at gyms." Darno broke the silence. "How long have you been a trainer?"

Stephi hesitated before answering "…3 months" .

"You still don't have a badge?" His face had utter shock on it.

"Hey! It's not my fault!" It was too late though, she was looking pathetic in front of him.

"Starting tomorrow, I'm putting you on a vigorous training plan, you're going to win that gym badge and you will dominate the opponent!" Darno's eyes were flaring with determination.

"I don't really like the word vigorous" Stephi began nervously "Besides, who are you to order me around? I'm the tour guide here!" Stephi answered in a matter of a fact tone, gaining confidence.

_Humph, I've taken great pride in my training plans; they have saved me numerous times in Johto_ Darno suddenly realized something.

"I guess that under your conditions, we cannot travel together, au revoir!" Darno happily called out as he turned around and waved.

"Wait! I'll do your training plan! How bad could it be?" Stephi yelled out in desperation to stop him.

_Aha, I've found a way to gain control in this companionship, this journey has just become a more bearable one_ Darno smirked to himself before turning around once again to face Stephi.

"Onwards then!" He fastened his pace and marched ahead of her. Stephi, oblivious to his thoughts and sudden mood change, quietly followed behind him, Spoink bouncing along.


End file.
